The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Central Falls, RI
Central Falls is the eighth-largest city in Rhode Island, with 22,900 residents in Providence County, about 5 miles north of downtown Providence · Updated November 2026
Is Central Falls, RI safe?
Crime in Central Falls is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 75% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Central Falls. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Central Falls run from B+ to D+, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 622 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
25% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Central Falls as a whole, and 75% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Central Falls scores 622.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Central Falls, RI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central Falls, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Central Falls
Burglary is a strength. Central Falls grades C+ for property crime, but burglary grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 57% of Americans live.
Car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Central Falls, 49% of reported car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks, against 27% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Central Falls
Areas graded C are home to 51% of residents in Central Falls; 43% live in areas graded A or B and 6% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Central Falls run from B+ to D+; every part of Central Falls has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
43%51%
A or B 43%C 51%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Central Falls, the northeast side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Central Falls?
Reported crime in Central Falls has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 25% and property crime down 33%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.3 to 3.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 15 to 10.0 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 25%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Central FallsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Central Falls. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Central Falls
Violent, US
Property, Central Falls
Property, US
2016
+53%
+4%
+57%
+15%
2017
+25%
+4%
+48%
+12%
2018
-1%
+0%
+2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
+4%
-27%
-8%
2021
-32%
+6%
-26%
-10%
2022
-7%
+5%
-20%
-6%
2023
-1%
+2%
-36%
-7%
2024
-25%
-4%
-33%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Central Falls
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central Falls has about 29 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 21% less than the US as a whole and 25% more than Rhode Island.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault is the most common crime in Central Falls, about 37% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Central Falls
Central Falls has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Central Falls, 74% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 45% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (74%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Central Falls compares with nearby cities
Central Falls has the most crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Density, walkability and parking lots in Central Falls
Two things set Central Falls apart: it has 93% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and a Walk Grade of B+ (65 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery and car theft, and car theft runs high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.93% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 96% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 53% of residents here live in walkable areas.B+ (65 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 95% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 92% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.16 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 92% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 82% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Central Falls
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Central Falls about $1,047 a year per household, 13% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $26 million a year, or $1,132 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$49
Rape
$730,000
$32
Robbery
$260,000
$11
Assault
$3.0 million
$132
Burglary
$180,000
$8
Theft
$870,000
$38
Vehicle theft
$800,000
$35
Arson
$76,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$48
Total
$8.1 million
$356
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Central Falls means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them. Central Falls is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Central Falls, RI average a SchoolGrade of D-: 20% of students test proficient, against 22% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Central Falls on SchoolGrade
